CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOHey, you like boots and perfumeHey, your red pumps and your Cadillac bluesHey, you want that fine white wine on my dimeWhat you want from meCause you're on my mindDon't you care no moreThat you're losing yourselfDon't you want some truthCause I'll give you mineHey, when I'm making my movie, babyYou keep saying all my linesHey, after Sunset Drive cruising, babyYou're just yesterday's prizeHey, you want trips on a white yacht for twoHey, you want Beverly Heights, bright lights, late nightsWhat you want from meCause you're on my mindDon't you care no moreThat you're losing yourselfDon't you want some truthCause I'll give you mine

DREW

Back in New York, Drew was on the edge of her seat, counting down the minutes until her appointment with Paul. She kept Zac in the back of her mind, replaying their lunch date from the previous day. She felt bad that she had all but blown him off and spent most of the date gushing about her movie offer, but he just had to understand. After all, he was the one that had told her ten years ago that he wasn't going to stand in the way of her dreams. Right? And now they seemed to be coming true and everything was going in the right direction!

So why couldn't she shake that nagging feeling that she was neglecting Zac?

When she entered Paul's office, he beamed at her. "Drew, I am so excited for you!"

His smile was infectious and she felt her cheeks weaken from the pressure of the smile she wore on her face as well.

He held the script in his hand. "Now, I do need to tell you something. This offer isn't for anything you've auditioned for."

Drew's smile quickly faded. She was genuinely stumped. "Well, how can I get an offer I haven't auditioned for? That sounds kinda crazy..."

Paul smiled and nodded. "You remember the first audition I sent you to L.A. for a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah, the one that I absolutely bombed. Like, a detrimental, career-holocaust type bombed, yeah. How could I forget it?"

"Well, you didn't exactly bomb it..."

Drew felt the excitement rising in her and she could hardly contain herself. Then she felt her feet back on the ground all of a sudden. "I thought you said I wasn't offered anything I auditioned for?"

"Uh, you weren't. However, the casting director from that audition absolutely fell in love with you."

Drew's jaw hit the floor. "That's impossible. You must have that audition mixed up with another one, I cussed him out. He hated me."

Paul's smile widened. "On the contrary, my dear, that is exactly why he loved you. He wanted to offer this to you right on the spot but he had to get his ducks in a row first. See, that isn't the only project he's working on. He's also working on this project that he says you are absolutely perfect for it and it's yours if you want it."

Drew's eyes widened in excitement, reaching her hand out for the script that Paul seemed to tease her with.

"Keep in mind, this isn't ANYTHING you've auditioned for..." he said as he handed her the script.

Getting it in her hands, she hungrily flipped through the script, taking a seat as she skimmed it. He wasn't kidding. This was NOTHING she auditioned for. She hated it. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" she asked him.

Paul's bright smile faded. "It's like I said. But it's an amazing opportunity. You were his FIRST choice."

"You said he had a plan B."

"They always have to have a plan B. But he made it very clear that he was likely not going to find anyone more perfect for the role."

Drew sighed and flipped through the script more slowly. There seemed to be only two women in the entire script. And she highly doubted they wanted her for the ethnic role. "The one they want me for is the lead?" she asked.

"Uh, lead female, yes. Co-star. The lead in the movie is a man. Obviously."

"And he wants me as the villain..."

"Were you going to play the male lead?"

Drew smiled wryly. "Who would be my co-star?"

"Uh, not sure yet. Yours will probably be the first official role cast. They're still auditioning for the rest of the movie but as of right now that role is off the market, waiting on you to make a decision. I do know they're specifically seeking unknowns..."

Drew was on her feet in an instant. "Unknowns? Who the hell is going to carry this movie? They want to make a movie full of unknowns? It'll flop for sure, nobody will make any money off of this! How is this supposed to jumpstart my career?"

"Drew," Paul said, matter-of-factly. "They're working with a $90 million dollar budget. I hardly think they're expecting this thing to flop. It's been in the works for, like, ten years now."

"Ten years, story of my life," Drew said under her breath. "So. $90 million, huh?"

"There's a lot of excitement surrounding it. Lots of interest..."

"So if I accept, then what happens?"

"Do a little screen testing. If they still think you're perfect after that, then we go over some contracts, nail down salary...this thing is in extremely early stages of production. They want to make sure they have a cast on board. We're talking maybe another couple of months before filming actually starts."

Drew calmed herself and slowly nodded in thought. Paul was right. It was definitely something that was completely out of her norm. A villain in a high-action fantasy film would be one hell of a way to get the attention of other industry people if she was able to nail it. She never saw her career going in that direction, but she did need to be open to almost anything if she wanted to work. And who knew? It might actually be fun!

"How long do I have to make a decision?" Drew asked.

"They would LIKE one immediately, but they're giving you absolutely no longer than a week. Take the script with you, familiarize yourself with it. Make a sound decision. But between you and me? You would be an absolute moron to turn this down."

As Drew walked out of the office, she was in deep thought. As she was trying to picture herself in the role that the script described, she was nearly ran off the street by a speeding cab. Startled by the near miss, she snapped herself out of it and swiftly headed home. She wished Mel were going to be there when she got there. ___________________________________________I was holding on, now I'm letting goThis is nothing more than a picture showEverything I knew, now I hardly knowBusy keeping less, never getting moreOne more nickel dime I'm out the doorThis kind of life I can't affordI want to BelieveThere's something to BelieveI would live only just to BelieveI'd love to BelieveIt's not only meThat's longing only just to BelieveOh, I'd love to BelieveI want to BelieveCan't put my mind at ease with the words I sayTrying to get myself to get out of my wayBirds in the trees just make me depressedSeeing sunny skies, feeling emptinessLayers of lies just seem to foldThis kind of life is all I knowMurder wears a friendly smileLike the perfect end in a plastic vial, no painSorry I can't seem to stayBut this bird was meant to fly away, fly away, fly awayLayers of lies just seem to foldThis kind of life is all I know

TAYLOR Taylor stood in the doorway, watching his wife through her vanity mirror as she pinned her hair up off of her shoulders. She really was adorable. And dainty. She was just as beautiful, if not more, than she was the day he met her.

Taylor and Natalie had spent the past ten years together. She had been there through it all. The battle of the record labels, the launch of 3CG--she had supported him every step of the way. The only thing she couldn't seem to give him was children. They had tried and tried after the first miscarriage ten years ago, but she never did become pregnant again. Natalie had refused any type of infertility treatments over the years, convinced and insisting that she was, in fact, extremely fertile and that when the time was right it would happen for them.

It had gotten to the point now where children were no longer at the top of Taylor's priority list. He was thirty years old now. He had come to accept the fact that children were unlikely for him and Natalie. If it happened, great. But now they hardly ever discussed the issue anymore.

Aside from not having children, something was missing. It always had been. He'd had no problem settling with Natalie. She was kind and easy on the eyes. But he had never felt complete. He had never felt that their relationship had reached its full potential, whatever that may have been. But after that much time with someone, how do you find it so easy to just walk away?

Mel was right. He wasn't ready.

He had been trying to keep his promise to be completely honest with Natalie. "So, uh, had a meeting yesterday," Taylor said to her.

"How'd it go?" she asked, giving up on the pinning and deciding to change her hairstyle completely.

"Good, actually. We got a million dollar investment out of it."

Natalie looked at him through the mirror and grinned. "Tay, that's wonderful! Who invested with you?"

Tay ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Uh, Mel. Mel did."

Natalie's expression turned to stone. She dropped her brush on the vanity table and turned around to face Taylor directly. "Oh she did, did she? Well, where did she come up with that kind of money?"

"Inheritance."

"And of all things in this world, she wanted to invest in YOUR label?"

Tay narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. "What's going on here?"

"I don't know, you tell me. Don't you find it awfully convenient that now she's wanting to put money into your label?"

Tay didn't know what to say. He dared not say a word about any of his recent conversations with Mel. That was an argument he was nowhere near ready for. "Well we didn't see the harm in it."

"Really, Tay? Are you seriously that blind to the fact that she is trying to buy her way back in? That she's trying to break us apart because she wants you back? It's a painfully obvious gesture. Is it working?"

Suddenly, Taylor was blind with rage. He fought hard to control himself. He couldn't believe that he would ever have to defend his friend against his wife but that seemed to be where this was headed. "How dare you?" he was able to say in his normal speaking voice. "She only had the best of intentions for our label and you accuse her of having ulterior motives? Sure, she and I had a relationship at one point. AS TEENAGERS. But I know her and Ike and Zac know her and we would know whether her actions were sincere or not and they ARE. Why don't you just come out and say what you really want to say?"

"And what would that be?"

"You think I'm sleeping with her!"

"Well, are you?"

"No, Natalie. I absolutely am not! I can't--I can't handle this. I can't deal with the distrust and--Nat, I just can't deal with it. I understand your position. I do. But you're my wife. I need you to be okay with this. I NEED you to trust me!"

Taylor wanted to vomit at that last line. In all honesty, did he really deserve to be trusted by her? With what he knew he truly felt inside?

"What's happening to us?" Natalie asked quietly.

Again, Tay was silent.

Natalie continued. "I mean, I know all marriages have their rough times. And lord knows we've had our few. But this time it feels different."

Tay looked at his wife. She was visibly upset. And still so beautiful underneath all the pain. He crossed the room and took Natalie in his arms. "There's nothing to worry about," he told her. "We're perfectly fine."

If only he believed his own words. ___________________________________________ MEL

Mel was barely in the front door of the Brownstone before she was accosted by Drew. "So how'd it go?" Drew asked her.

"It's a done deal," Mel answered. "They settled on a million."

"That's so cool!" Drew said excitedly. "But so weird. And so right all at the same time. Hey, do you ever feel like we've been given a second chance?"

Mel looked at Drew, puzzled. "Huh?"

"You know, a second chance. To go back and do it all over?"

Mel thought for a moment. "If that were the case then it wouldn't be so damn complicated now."

"Yeah, I guess so. So...I got an offer!"

Mel's excitement found her. "You did! That's right! So what is it? You gonna take it?"

Drew sighed. "I don't know...it's, like, sci-fi fantasy stuff."

Mel raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? You?"

"I know! But they apparently hand-picked me and it's a $90 million budget. Paul said I'd be stupid to turn it down."

"Well, I'd have to agree," Mel said. Then she changed the subject. "So, I've been thinking about moving back to Tulsa."

Drew was silent for a moment. "I'm not surprised. You and Tay? It's coming back. I can tell."

Both women were silent in contemplation. "Mel, if you still love Tay, it's okay," Drew continued. "It's okay to love him."

"Is it really? I mean, what good is it if I can't do anything about it? I told him I didn't have time to wait on him. Was that horrible?"

"He IS the one who's married." __________________________________________________

Mel decided to call Taylor later that night. "I think I've made a decision," she said.

"Oh?"

"I think I may have decided to do some house hunting in Tulsa."

"Seriously?" She could hear excitement in his voice. "That's probably the greatest news I've heard all day."

"Well don't get too excited. It's not set in stone yet."

"I'll take what I can get."

Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was loneliness. Maybe it was stress. But whatever it was, she couldn't stop the next words that came out of her mouth. "I miss you, Tay. I miss you so much. I miss us. I miss everything."

"I miss you, too," Tay said quietly. "I've missed you since the day you left. I've missed you since I saw you in the crowd at the show in New York. Mel, I love--Mel?"

Her name was the last thing she had heard him say before she fell asleep. ________________________________________________

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